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Hi folks..i hope everybody is ok..
I've had my 03 convertible m3 for 2 years without a problem... i like to keep my car in my garage if the weather isn't good.. Today the weather was mostly sunny and i decided to drive it around in my town and put the top down.. when i was holding the button to put the top down it didnt work.. i tried it 10 times but it never worked..
did anybody have the same problem?? what should i do?
Please HELP ME!!
Thank you..!

OK if the light is staying red and nothing is happening it sounds like the pump could be bad. It's located in the trunk on the left side behind the trim. It has some foam over it to keep you from hearing as much of it. From what I've heard its about $1500 to $2000 for the repair on the pump. I just had a line break on CiC in December and it was $1500 at an independent repair shop. The top may be in safe mode, this can only be found out by reading the computer. As much as I am a DIY type of guy, everything I've seen says take it to a good shop.

had an issue with my top last year...it would start but just unlock and not go anywhere. Have your hydraulic pump and lines checked. It cost me 450 Kuwaiti Dinar at the dealer(about $1600) to fix...they replaced the lines and the pump(the pump alone is almost $800)

I'm no expert on the mechanics of the convertible top. Actually, shame on me, I've owned this car 6 years now and never really took the time to familiarize myself with how the roof operates.

But... I have had several experiences with it not working. The flashing yellow light always happened when the storage compartment wasn't properly folded down. I did get a solid red one time. It happened when I tried to operate the top with the car in motion (it was starting to rain and I pushed the button to close it before coming to a complete stop.) Obviously there is a motion sensor that can stop the top from working. Maybe that could be the issue? If so, it would be cheaper to replace (I would think) than some of the other possibilities.

whats the problem with it bro??
i put the top down and drove home today.. when i got home the top didnt work again..i opened the trunk and closed it and tried it again..finally it worked...
WTF is wrong with it??
anyway thanks for your helping bro..
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I have an 04 330cic and rebuilt it from a salvage title. The top drive mechanism/system was not damaged in the accident that rendered the car as salvage, but at different points while repairing the car, i had the same thing happen (red light come on & no top movement). Somehow the top moved or got out of position and would not operate until the next closest position switch was made. There are several position sensors that detect the top (when its near the full open/closed positions etc). On the two occaisions that this happend, I had to get the manual top wrench out and crank the top until the sensor was made, then it would work using the dash switch. You can read all of this in the owners manual (how to manually work the top).

my '02 car originally came w/ a temperature sensor that wouldn't allow the top to go down below 28 degrees. of course, it wouldn't allow it to go up either. so it got stuck down one winter morning when the temperature plummeted and the car had been sitting in the garage over the weekend.

took it straight to the dealer, where they removed (maybe bypassed) the sensor. those sensors are no longer used and the top works great.

also - since new, i've had the recurring problem of either the top not operating from the interior button - or not from the driver's door lock. if one doesn't work, the other will. being that it's an intermitent problem and that it doesn't register in the car's tracking computer, there's nothing that can be done. fine, because at least one way always works.

my top would not go down the other day - truck wasn't latched all the way.
slammed the truck, top goes down. same with the truck/glove box - glove box not shut tight, trunk wont open. sometimes trunk won't lock.
damn - still trying to get a handle on the sync issues in this car.